Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
05/24/2013
Omaha, Nebraska
-We begin with Miz TV. Out comes Fandango. They recap Monday’s events, with Fandango leaving Barrett to lose their tag match. The Miz calls Fandango a dancing bag of skittles, due to his outfit. This draws a chant that may have some legs. Barrett comes out to interrupt the proceedings. Wade threatens Fandango to a face pop. Miz gets in Wade’s face and they brawl before being separated by a single referee. They needed more than a single referee to break up that fight.
Intercontinental Title Match – The Miz vs. Wade Barrett ©
We join in progress with Miz getting a backslide for two. He follows it up with a pancake before Wade takes control with a couple of kicks. Fandango is on commentary. He defends his likeness in a humorous moment. Miz hits the kneelift and follows up with a big boot.
Fandango asks for his music to be turned on and begins to dance on the outside. Winds of Change gets two. Miz hits a rollup for two before hitting a slide on Fandango. Wade gets two on a rollup and Miz goes for the figure four. It’s reversed. Fandango smacks Miz down and he and Barrett go after The Miz, beating him down. Wade decides to give Fandango the Bull Hammer due to his actions on Monday and walks off with his belt.
Final Thoughts: It was a nothing match, but is making the battle for the IC title the most interesting it has been in months. Wade Barrett is getting a reaction with this turn as a tweener of sorts, going after Fandango when the opportunity arose. They’re going to have to turn this down before Wade finally gets over.
-Daniel Bryan is backstage muttering to himself as he gets prepared for his match. Kane talks to Bryan to get them back on the same page. Daniel Bryan is now obsessed with being the weak link. That’s usually not a good storyline idea. It leads to a losing streak, and being off of TV for months before coming back as a xenophobe.
Jack Swagger vs. Daniel Bryan
They brawl to start and Daniel clotheslines Swagger over the top and follows with his dive. Bryan kicks him against the barricade and tosses him back in. He heads up top and hits the front dropkick from the top for two. Swagger comes back with a strong clothesline and slams Bryan into the Tree of Woe. Swagger brutalizes him and leaves him lying as we head to break.
We return with Swagger in control, beating on Bryan in the corner. Bryans flips off of the top and hits the clothesline and hits the dropkick in the corner. With Swagger seated, Bryan buries him with another running dropkick in the corner. Swagger comes back with a slam for two. Bryan reverses out of the gutwrench and looks for the No Lock, but gets reversed into the Patriot Lock, which Bryan reverses into a rollup for two.
Bryan reverses the Swagger Bomb with a boot and then kicks Swagger’s head off. Bryan DESTROYS Swagger with savage stomps to the face, holding Swagger’s arms for extra effect. The No Lock gets the win, but Bryan keeps the hold locked in for good measure. Daniel glares out into the crowd and then takes another look at the downed Swagger. Bryan locks in the hold again to finish the demolition of Swagger, before Kane peels him away from the situation. Bryan leaves to a face pop.
Final Thoughts: This was a good sprint which may lead to two good things. With how Bryan took it to Swagger and destroyed him, it could be close to the end of this terrible gimmick for Jack. Also, with his impressive performance, it could be time for Daniel Bryan to be taken more seriously. This was the most dominant he has looked in his entire time in WWE. This is was worth watching for Bryan’s raw intensity. Swagger did great work here, and someone else made Bryan look great for a change.
-Damien Sandow is in the ring with Matt Stryker. Sandow has had enough of such barbaric events as truck pulls and arm wrestling. He wants silence! Sandow gives us the tale of The Gordian Knot, and reveals a knotted strand of robe on the table. THE GORDIAN KNOT is Stryker’s challenge. Sandow verbally abuses Matt after he fails to untie the knot.
Sheamus is here to ruin this segment. Sheamus says that Sandow should get a girlfriend. Sandow takes offense. And Sheamus plans to solve THE GORDIAN KNOT! Damien shows Sheamus how to do it, pulling out a pair of shears to server the top. He holds the rope in triumph. Sheamus tries to sucker Sandow into a Brogue Kick, but Sandow outsmarts Sheamus, bails, and points out the shortcomings of The Celtic Warrior.
Sheamus takes out his frustration by bullying poor Stryker and tossing him out of the ring onto Sandow, like a jerk. Bravo.
Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show
Big Show corners and beats on Chris to start. Jericho fights back but is caught in a bearhug. He escapes and hits a dropkick to the knee, but gets hit by the big spear for two. Jericho reverses out of the chokeslam, but comes off the top and gets chopped in the chest. Big Show goes to the top and misses an elbow drop off of the second rope. Lionsault gets two shortly thereafter.
The Codebreaker is reversed, and reversed again by Jericho into a DDT for two. Big Show powers out from the Walls of Jericho and hits a rough chokeslam that sends Jericho out of the ring. Jericho reverses and then hits the Codebreaker. Big Show fights back to the ring, but doesn’t make it in time, giving Chris the win by countout. Show grabs a chair after the match, but Jericho slides out and takes the chair. Show walks off in a fit after Chris hits him across the back.
Final Thoughts: This was fine, giving Jericho the countout victory. It seems that Big Show is due for a break, once more.
-Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman come down to the ring. This theme music is quickly growing on me. Paul gives his rub to Axel, pointing out his work with Punk and Lesnar and their successes. Axel reminds everyone of what his name is. Joe Hennig is better. He takes credit for putting HHH on the shelf. It would have been nice if it actually went down that way. Axel says that there is more to come, and this is just the first step.
Curtis Axel vs. Sin Cara
They’re still doing the mood lighting. Axel is in control at the start. Cara hits some kicks and hits a head scissors before hitting an extravagant arm drag. Axel is in control once more, hitting a dropkick and following up with a chinlock. Sin Cara hits the springboard elbow and a crossbody for two. Axel hits a sick looking neckbreaker for the finish.
Final Thoughts: It was an extended squash, but I would have given Sin Cara a little less offense to make Axel look more impressive. With Curt getting a push, Sin Cara just lost one of the few guys he can have a decent match with. WWE just needs to push everyone that worked well with Sin Cara.
United States Title Match – Kofi Kingston vs. Dean Ambrose ©
Audible “Ambrose!” chants to start the match. The two trade blows and Kofi hits the dropkick for one. Ambrose hits the Mutoh elbow for one and follows up with a big right hand. Dean chokes Kofi with a knee. Kofi comes back with a splash from the top across Dean’s back for a two count. Kingston goes up but Ambrose follows. Rollins gets knocked off the apron after distracting, and Kofi flies onto Reigns. The Shield then swarm the ring for the DQ. Orton comes out to get some of The Shield. Sheamus follows out Orton. Teddy Long comes out soon after, and our main event is now a tag match.
The Shield vs. The Celtic Apex of Flight
We join in progress with Reigns and Sheamus. They fight over a hiptoss and Sheamus hits a powerslam for two. Rollins is in and finally gets hit with that hiptoss. Orton enters and starts to wail away at Seth. Kofi enters and hits a few kicks for a nearfall. Kofi hits a Russian legsweep and follows with a splash.
Randy is back and hits the dropkick for two. Ambrose comes in and gets leveled with a clothesline and takes a suplex. Randy stomps on the hands and brings in Sheamus. A neckbreaker gets two for Sheamus. Rollins is in and hits a series of punches in the corner. Rollins comes off the top and gets caught, but pulled from the ring by the rest of The Shield as we go to break.
Ambrose is in control of Sheamus when they return. Sheamus fights out of the corner and makes the tag to Orton. He hits clotheslines and the powerslam before the rope hang DDT. Reigns takes out Orton and knocks him to the outside with a super punch. Rollins brings in Ambrose who beats down on Orton.
Meanwhile, Reigns favors his ankle from the apron. A Mutoh elbow gets two for Ambrose. Rollins returns and trips Orton into the second turnbuckle. Up top, Orton fights back and hits the superplex. Sheamus gets the hot tag and runs Reigns and Ambrose into the corners. He hits the rolling Samoan Drop on Ambrose and finally clobbers Rollins in the ropes.
Rollins gets Brogue kicked, but Sheamus eats a spear. Orton hits an RKO on the outside. Kingston gets a tag and he and Dean face off, but Rollins distracts and Ambrose hits the headlock DDT for the win.
Final Thoughts: Hopefully, we get the full rematch in the future between Kofi and Dean for the U.S Title. Still, the tag team was very good, and everyone is better off for the result. When The Shield finally lose cleanly in one of these matches, the crowd is going to go berserk. Hopefully, WWE doesn’t blow it.
–This was a very good show without many faults. The opening segment and development of the IC title race is going very well, and I certainly enjoyed Wade Barrett’s tweener character. Daniel Bryan looked like a very bad man against Jack Swagger, and Swagger helped that by selling like death for Bryan and doing a good job of looking absolutely overwhelmed. We need to forget about that segment with Sheamus and Sandow, just for how Sheamus dealt with being outsmarted. Jericho and Show had a decent sprint, but it seems to be building to The Big Show taking another extended break, or retiring, based on his body language. Of course, the main event was exceptional. This was a mighty fine two hours of wrestling.
DVR MARKERS
0:00 – Opening Segment/IC Title match – Slightly Recommended
0:25 – Jack Swagger vs. Daniel Bryan – Highly Recommended
1:00 – Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show – Slightly Recommended
1:36 – Dean Ambrose vs. Kofi Kingston and Six Man Tag Team Match – Highly Recommended
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